Does Vitamin D Help Prevent Asthma Attacks?

What do the experts say about vitamin D helping to prevent asthma attacks? You’ve seen the headlines. Vitamin D is no longer just for healthy bones. It has become the latest “miracle” nutrient. If you believe everything you read, vitamin D can prevent or cure everything from multiple sclerosis to diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Unfortunately, the evidence for many of those claims is weak.

However, the effect of vitamin D on the severity of asthma symptoms appears to be an exception. That relationship appears to be on much more solid ground.

A review published last year(S.K. Bantz et al, Annals of Pediatrics and Child Health, 3: pii: 1032, 2015) concluded “We emphasize that all children, especially those who are asthmatic, should be assessed to ensure adequate intake or supplementation with at least the minimum recommended doses of vitamin D. The simple intervention of vitamin D supplementation may provide significant clinical improvement in atopic disease, especially asthma.” [Note: Atopic disease refers to diseases characterized by a hyperallergenic response, such as eczema, hay fever, and asthma.]

That was followed by the recent publication of a Cochrane Review that concluded “Vitamin D is likely to offer protection against severe asthma attacks”. To understand the significance of that statement you need to understand that this is not just another clinical study or another review. Cochrane Reviews are conducted by an international group of experts and are considered the “Gold Standard” for evidence-based medicine.

You may remember that famous commercial: “When E.F. Hutton speaks, people listen.” In this case: “When Cochrane Reviews speak, doctors listen.”

Let’s look briefly at how the review was conducted, and then examine exactly what the review said, and what it didn’t say.

Does Vitamin D Help Prevent Asthma Attacks?

One of the characteristics of Cochrane Reviews that set them apart from many of the other reviews that you find in the literature is that they include only the highest quality clinical studies in their analysis. This is one of the things that gives them such credibility.

This particular Cochrane Review included seven trials involving a total of 435 children and two trials involving a total of 658 adults. Most trial participants had mild to moderate asthma. The duration of the trials ranged from four to 12 months. All studies were placebo controlled and used close to RDA recommended doses of vitamin D.

The results were pretty clear cut:

Vitamin D supplementation reduced the average number of severe asthma attacks requiring treatment with oral steroids by 36%. This conclusion was based on 3 high-quality studies involving 680 participants. Here, these studies clearly show vitamin D does help prevent asthma attacks.

Vitamin D supplementation reduced the number of acute asthma attacks requiring emergency room visits and/or hospitalizations by 50%. This conclusion was based on 7 high-quality studies with 963 participants. These studies also show vitamin D helps prevent asthma attacks.

None of the studies reported any severe adverse effects from vitamin D supplementation. (Compare that with all warnings associated with those ads for asthma medications you see on TV.)

However, they did not see any effect of vitamin D supplementation on day-to-day asthma symptoms.

What Does This Study Mean For You?

This study strongly suggests that vitamin D supplementation in the RDA range (600 IU for ages 1-70 and 800 IU for adults over 70) significantly reduces the risk of severe asthma attacks requiring steroids or hospitalization. Thus, if you or your child have asthma, vitamin D supplementation in the RDA range just makes sense.

However, this study also suggest that vitamin D is not a panacea that will make all asthma symptoms disappear.

Also, even Cochrane Reviews have limitations.

None of the studies included in this review looked at vitamin D status prior to the study. We simply don’t know whether vitamin D supplementation might be effective at reducing day-to-day asthma symptoms in individuals who were vitamin D deficient.

The studies included in this review did not include asthma sufferers with severe symptoms. Again, we don’t know whether vitamin D supplementation might make day-to-day symptoms more tolerable and easily controlled for people with severe asthma symptoms

One final thought: Blood levels of 25-hydroxy-vitamin D are the best indicators of vitamin D status. For reasons that we don’t understand, not everyone consuming RDA levels of vitamin D ends up with optimal levels (50-75 nmoles/L). For that reason, it is a good idea to get your blood levels of 25-hydroxy-vitamin D tested as part of your annual physical exam.

If you are already getting RDA levels of vitamin D and your 25-hydroxy-vitamin D levels are not in the optimal range, you may want to supplement with extra vitamin D. Just be sure to monitor your 25-hydroxy-vitamin D levels on a regular basis to make sure they don’t exceed the optimal range.

So, according to the Cochrane Review, vitamin D does help prevent asthma attacks.

The Bottom Line

A recent Cochrane Review concluded that vitamin D supplementation in the RDA range (600 IU for ages 1-70 and 800 IU for adults over 70) significantly reduces the risk of severe asthma attacks requiring steroids or hospitalization in both children and adults. This is significant because Cochrane Reviews are considered the Gold Standard for evidence-based medicine.

Thus, if you or your child have asthma, vitamin D supplementation in the RDA range just makes sense.

However, blood levels of 25-hydroxy-vitamin D are the best measure of vitamin status, and not everyone consuming RDA levels of vitamin D ends up with optimal levels (50-75 nmoles/L). If you are already getting RDA levels of vitamin D in your diet and your 25-hydroxy-vitamin D levels are not in the optimal range, you may want to supplement with extra vitamin D. Just be sure to monitor your 25-hydroxy-vitamin D levels on a regular basis to make sure they don’t exceed the optimal range.

This Cochrane Review did not find any effect of vitamin D supplementation on day-to-day asthma symptoms.

However, even Cochrane Reviews have limitations.

None of the studies included in this review looked at vitamin D status prior to the study. We simply don’t know whether vitamin D supplementation might be effective at reducing day-to-day asthma symptoms in individuals who were vitamin D deficient.

The studies included in this review did not include asthma sufferers with severe symptoms. Again, we don’t know whether vitamin D supplementation might make day-to-day symptoms more tolerable and easily controlled for people with severe asthma symptoms

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

A Sleeping position that has your head tilted puts pressure on your spinal cord and will cause headaches. I’ve seen it happen hundreds of times, and the reasoning is so logical it’s easy to understand.

Your spinal cord runs from your brain, through each of your vertebrae, down your arms and legs. Nerves pass out of the vertebrae and go to every cell in your body, including each of your organs. When you are sleeping it is important to keep your head, neck, and spine in a horizontal plane so you aren’t straining the muscles that insert into your vertebrae.

The graphic above is a close-up of your skull and the cervical (neck) vertebrae. Your nerves are shown in yellow, and your artery is shown in red. Consider what happens if you hold your head to one side for hours. You can notice that the nerves and artery will likely be press upon. Also, since your spinal cord comes down the inside of the vertebrae, it will also be impinged.

In 2004 the Archives of Internal Medicine published an article stating that 1 out of 13 people have morning headaches. It’s interesting to note that the article never mentions the spinal cord being impinged by the vertebrae. That’s a major oversight!

Muscles merge into tendons, and the tendons insert into the bone. As you stayed in the tilted position for hours, the muscles actually shortened to the new length. Then you try to turn over, but the short muscles are holding your cervical vertebrae tightly, and they can’t lengthen.

The weight of your head pulls on the vertebrae, putting even more pressure on your spinal cord and nerves. Plus, the tight muscles are pulling on the bones, causing pain on the bone.

Your Pillow is Involved in Your Sleeping Position and the Causes of Headaches

The analogy I always use is; just as pulling your hair hurts your scalp, the muscle pulling on the tendons hurts the bone where it inserts. In this case it is your neck muscles putting a strain on your cervical bones. For example, if you sleep on your left side and your pillow is too thick, your head will be tilted up toward the ceiling. This position tightens the muscles on the right side of your neck.

Dozing off while sitting in a car waiting for someone to arrive, or while working for hours at your desk can also cause headaches. The pictures above show a strain on the neck when you fall asleep without any support on your neck. Both of these people will wake up with a headache, and with stiffness in their neck.

The best sleeping position to prevent headaches is to have your pillow adjusted so your head, neck, and spine are in a horizontal line. Play with your pillows, putting two thin pillows into one case if necessary. If your pillow is too thick try to open up a corner and pull out some of the stuffing.

Sleeping on Your Back & Stomach

If you sleep on your back and have your head on the mattress, your spine is straight. All you need is a little neck pillow for support, and a pillow under your knees.

Stomach sleeping is the worst sleeping position for not only headaches, but so many other aches and pains. It’s a tough habit to break, but it can be done. This sleeping position deserves its own blog, which I will do in the future.

Treating the Muscles That Cause Headaches

All of the muscles that originate or insert into your cervical vertebrae, and many that insert into your shoulder and upper back, need to be treated. The treatments are all taught in Treat Yourself to Pain Free Living, in the neck and shoulder chapters. Here is one treatment that will help you get relief.

Take either a tennis ball or the Perfect Ball (which really is Perfect because it has a solid center and soft outside) and press into your shoulder as shown. You are treating a muscle called Levator Scapulae which pulls your cervical vertebrae out of alignment when it is tight.

Hold the press for about 30 seconds, release, and then press again.

Your pillow is a key to neck pain and headaches caused by your sleeping position. It’s worth the time and energy to investigate how you sleep and correct your pillow. I believe this blog will help you find the solution and will insure you have restful sleep each night.

Wishing you well,

Julie Donnelly

About The Author

Julie Donnelly is a Deep Muscle Massage Therapist with 20 years of experience specializing in the treatment of chronic joint pain and sports injuries. She has worked extensively with elite athletes and patients who have been unsuccessful at finding relief through the more conventional therapies.

She has been widely published, both on – and off – line, in magazines, newsletters, and newspapers around the country. She is also often chosen to speak at national conventions, medical schools, and health facilities nationwide.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Meet The Experts

The statements in these articles have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Any Health Care changes should be made only after consulting with your Doctor and licensed Health Care Advisor.

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